Where Were You?
by JustAnimeManga
Summary: Natsu came back - with memory loss. Maybe it's better that he doesn't know... Is it? When Natsu dicovers the thing that had been connecting him and Lucy all this time, he decides to join her in finding the other members of Fairy Tail, while learning a new found responsibility. But can a love that was left a year ago be resumed just like that and can Natsu learn to be a father?
1. Chapter 1

"Wow! This is where you live, Lucy?"

The blond mage chuckled, as two of her old companions stared in awe at her flat. She slipped off her shoes and placed them neatly under the coat rack, running her fingers along a pair of smaller ones as she did so. She smiled to herself, but fought back tears in the process. He didn't notice, did he? The toys strewn around the carpet, yet to be put back in their box, the small, girlish clothes that were hanging from the rack still drying, the sweet smell of baby powder and milk, that lingered in the air. He probably didn't remember. Lucy sighed and shot a sad look at Natsu, who was already sinking deep into her plush sofa, resting his feet on the coffee table. She shook her head and went over to him.

"Lucy? Is that you?" A female voice sounded from the other room, and the blond immediately stopped in her tracks. Instead of chewing Natsu out, she walked over to a dark haired, pale woman, who was standing in the entrance of Lucy's bedroom. The fire mage and his cat wondered, who on Earth could she be. And what was she doing in Lucy's house?

"Ivory! How was she?" 'She'? Was Lucy short on money, so she got a roommate to split the rent with? Natsu didn't think so, considering the appearance of the blond mage's flat.

"Oh, she was great. Sleeping like and angel. Although I don't understand, why couldn't you leave her with one of your Celestial Spirits?"

"Believe me, you're the only person I actually trust to be left alone with her."

The brunette shot Lucy a warm smile, then quickly said her goodbyes. She left the flat with a click of her snowy white high heels and frost covered the places where her feet touched the floor. Natsu figured, that she must've been and ice mage, but that wasn't important now. He was dying to know, who was the "she" Lucy and the other woman were talking about.

The Celestial mage sat down cautiously beside Natsu and the pink haired man started staring at her, as if he was trying to read her mind.

"What the hell're you looking at? Do I have something on my face?"

"Who was she?"

"Who? Oh, Ivory. She's my colleague, apparently she's an old friend of Gray's."

"Not her. I mean the girl you were talking about. The one sleeping like an angel and the one you wouldn't trust with your Celestial Spirits. What, did you get a roommate with sleeping problems? Come on, you can tell me."

Lucy hestitated for a moment, considering telling Natsu everything there was to know. But then... No. She decided, it would be only her responsibility. Natsu didn't have to have anything to do with it. He'd forgotten, anyways. "I can't."

"You're hiding something, Lucy. Something far bigger than I can imagine. Scared to drop the bomb, are you? Do you not trust me anymore?"

"Sheesh, Natsu, don't push! Everything's fine, Happy knows it."

"Aye?"

But Lucy knew Natsu was right. And deep down inside her heart, that truth was twisting into her sense of guilt, hurting more than ever. Never has she felt so hopeless. Has she found the missing pieces of the desired puzzle she wished to make, only to discover that she can't quite put them back together?

Lucy Heartfilia didn't know. Was she forced to choose? Between the one that stole her heart long ago and the one that captured it from the first moment?

* * *

"Will you kindly stop raiding my fridge?" Shouted the blond mage for the tenth time that evening. She smacked herself in the middle of the forehead and threw the cards she was holding onto the table before her. She would win anyway, Natsu was utter and complete crap at poker.

"But you have so much cool stuff, Lucy! Hey... Is that yogurt? And dragon fruit flavored too! Boy, is this my lucky day! But wait, I thought you hated yogurt, Lucy!"

"Because I _do_."

"Why is it in your fridge then? Can I eat it, since you won't do it?"

"No! Gosh, Natsu, all those questions! Just put the yogurt back and let's keep playing."

This was getting out of hand. Lucy was getting more and anxious with the passing minutes. She stopped counting all the times either Natsu or Happy found something related to her big secret, and the times she covered up her goofs with bad excuses. It was seriously getting scary. What if either the cat or the mage decided to prank her by disobeying her order of staying out of her bedroom? That would be the worst. In that case, there would be no escape.

To drag Happy and Natsu from rummaging through her belongings and prevent them from finding more clues, she invited the pink-haired man to play cards games and sat the cat down on the couch with an old photo album, one that she knew was full of old photos from Fairy Tail. Maybe she would be embarassed by the photographies once or twice, but that would still be better than anyone finding out what she was hiding.

Lucy shot a worried look towards her bedroom door, as no sounds were heard from there since Ivory left. She figured that her secret must still be sleeping or simply having a good time.

 _Please_ , the blonde mage pleaded silently, praying in her mind. _Stay calm until I've finished with these two idiots. Wait until I can get back to you, it won't be long, I promise._

Those last two words left a sense of strange dryness in her mouth, although she didn't say them out loud, not even whispered them. Then, a twinge of nostalgic pain stabbed her heart and she knew. The memories linked to those words were really... sad. Just thinking about that day made her want to cry. All those promises they never fulfilled, a love that was just a flower starting to bloom and died before it got the chance to sway in the spring wind. Everything went to hell.

"Hey, Lucy!" Happy's high pitched voice sounded in the room and Lucy was pulled out of her train of thought. She looked at the cat and as soon as she noticed the shiny frame in his paw, she froze.

"I told you not to barge through my drawers!" She shouted, getting up and running up to Happy and trying to snatch the frame out of his paw. Then the cat giggled slyly and flew up to celing, getting out of Lucy's reach.

"Why? It's just a picture of you and Natsu!" Lucy's eyes widened in fear. _Natsu and I? No... It can't possibly be that one... I'm sure that was safe and sound in my room..._ "Hey! Lucy, you look so big in this picture! No, not just that. You _are_ big in that picture. It almost looks like you were preg-"

"Shut up, you dumb cat!" The blonde mage finally grasped the frame and yanked it out of Happy's paws. She immediately smashed it face down on the table, sending cards flying, so no one could see the photo inside the frame. Glass shattered from underneath it and Lucy blinked hard, tears pricking her eyes. She couldn't cry. Not now, not in front of them.

She suddenly felt Natsu strong hand on her shoulder. In that moment, something inside her broke. _Maybe_ , she thought, _we still have a chance? This... this could be love again. We could try and maybe, just maybe, it could work. I wouldn't have to be alone..._

"I think it's time to go to sleep," said Lucy, wiping at her eyes agressively, and for once, no one argued.

* * *

"Oye, Natsu! I have the markers ready, now let's go scribble on Lucy's face!" excaimed Happy, nudging the pink-haired man's shoulder. The latter didn't need telling twice. And, above all, that would mean he would get to sneak into Lucy's bedroom and see her secret. Whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than the guild being disbanded, right?

Wrong. When Natsu reached for the door handle, he hesitated just a tiny bit. Looking back, he should've thought more. But this was Natsu Dragneel, and he did not think except for when it was absolutely necessary. Without further ado, he opened the door and stepped inside. The first thing he noticed weren't the photos covering the walls, the comfortable looking bed, or even Lucy, who seemed to be sleeping topless. No, the thing that Natsu first saw, was a crib.

A crib, just like for a baby. Plain, honey-colored wood with a cherry-pink veil covering the top. That sight brought back Natsu's memories like a wave, overflowing his being. He was such an idiot! Why the hell did he forget? How was that even possible? Screw-up of the century, that's for sure. He wondered for a second, if Lucy hated him now. But that was only for a second, since Natsu, not minding his shaking legs and beating heart, walked over to the crib and with a trembling hand, he lifted up the pinky veil to see the person lying beneath it.

She was bigger, than he'd expected. Right, she must be nearly one now. Over one, even. To miss an entire year of he life... The first one, most important one too. Natsu felt seriously guilty. He studied the baby girl's face carefully, looking at who she resembled most. The shape of her face definitely originated from Lucy, but her hair... Unruly locks, reaching a little behind her shoulders, in a beautiful, cherry-pink shade. A little lighter than Natsu's, but still basically the same color. That brought tears to the Dragon Slayers eyes. He didn't even try to fight them, but instead let them flow in rivers down his cheeks, pouring out all of his emotions.

Some of these tears fell even on the baby's face and Natsu reached down to wipe them away. As soon as his rough, scarred finger brushed his daughter's perfect, tender cheek, he wanted to hug her tight and never, ever let go. She seemed so delicate, so fragile, but yet this immediate love he felt for this small being was overwhelming.

"Nashi."

In that moment, she lifted her eyelids and looked Natsu straight in the eyes and it was right then, that the Dragon Slayer truly felt, that he had become a father.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all very much for the favorites and follows I found under this fic! Reviews are always appreciated too, remember! :D**

Natsu couldn't sleep at all that night. The image of his daughter's eyes was burning into his soul, the two black, sparkly orbs staring straight through him. She took after him under that aspect, too. That made him feel even stranger.

It was weird, finding out about being a father in such a way. And the worst thing was, Natsu didn't know what to do. How to approach Lucy, how to even look her in the eye. And Nashi? Even if he could turn around that one year of absence and start parenting, he didn't have the slightest clue about babies. And now he's missed the first step, first word. He would know her younger face from pictures. He didn't know if he could survive a pain like that. And there was always the issue of Lucy. He knew he loved her, all this time he kept thinking about her - but he can't hide the times, where he loved, but couldn't quite remember who he loved. Or what was the name of the guild, who's mark he wore on his shoulders.

Easy to diagnose, it was memory loss.

Natsu sighed and rubbed his neck. Through half-closed eyes, he looked around Lucy's living and now noticing all the small details that gave away the presence of a small child - toys, accesories, clothes. The Dragon Slayer started wondering, what is in this room, that Nashi took her first, unsure step or shyly lisped a few simple words.

The fire mage got up quietly and walked over to the kitchen. He opened the frigde and lazily grabbed a few random products, aspiring to make himself a sandwich out of anything. But then, he couldn't focus on even that. He put jam on the bread instead of butter, and then mistaked paper for cheese. He decided to screw it and stuffed the mega sandwich into his mouth all at once. Just as he was about to swallow, he heard the sound of small, wonky steps behind him and froze.

He turned around slowly and nearly spit out everything he had in his mouth.

Nashi was standing near the kitchen table, holding onto a chair for support. She was wearing a light pink t-shirt patterned with flames and matching pajama shorts. She was pressing a white scale scarf to her cheek and then Natsu noticed, that on her right shoulder, was a dark red Fairy Tail mark.

"Mama."

"You can talk?!" screamed Natsu when his daughter unexpectedly spoke. Nashi looked groggily at her father with her big, black eyes and the Dragon Slayer felt the hard feeling of anxiousness and guilt melt like ice-cream. He shot the small girl a warm look and reached out his hand to stroke her head. Nashi backed away immediately and buried her face in the scarf she was holding even deeper.

 _Right. I maybe her father, but I'm still a stranger._

"Mama," repeated Nashi, biting her lip nervously.

"Mama's not here," answered Natsu, running his hand through his hair. Lucy was still probbaly sound asleep, so was Happy. That left him and Nashi.

"Mama," insisted Nashi, rubbing her eyes.

"Mama's still asleep."

"Aunty Iva?"

"Aunty Iva's not here either." Who the heck was she?

"Papa?"

"Papa? Do you have a papa?" If she knew the word, Lucy must've mentioned Natsu at some point, right? Or at least so he hoped.

Nashi shook her head and Natsu fell.

"Papa is far away." The Dragon Slayer's daughter then turned around and pointed to the coffee table, that was still littered with cards from last night. On top of that mess was the frame Lucy shattered yesterday. Natsu walked over to the table and his hand hovered over the broken frame. Nashi followed in his steps and rested her small head on her father's strong shoulder, although she was still a bit scared of being close to him.

The fire mage took a deep breath and lifted the frame, taking special caution to not hurt himself or Nashi with the falling glass. He looked at the photograph and felt as if someone had just punched him in the stomach. It was an ordinary photo of him and Lucy, but that wasn't the thing. Lucy was heavily pregnant in this picture. He was leaning on Natsu and he had his muscly arm around her, as if saying that he's protecting her. His hand was resting on the blond's baby bump and hers was laying on his, while her other arm was looped under his shoulder and ruffling his hair. It was such a cute pose, but the most romantic thing about this photo was the face expressions. Both Lucy and Natsu were lit up with bright smiles and their eyes were filled with so much happiness, the kind nothing could destroy. They were still so joyous, so in love - so naive. Simply looking at this photograph was painful for the Dragon Slayer.

"Papa is here," Nashi said suddenly, pressing her finger to the surface of the frame, where Natsu's face was. The fire mage couldn't fight tears. It was all his fault. He didn't _mean_ to forget, but he did and now everything's caught up in this crap.

"Nashi. Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"I'm Papa."

Nashi looked unsure and confused, but then she noticed that the man speaking to her had exactly the same scarf as she did. She put her thumb into her mouth and started listening.

"Do you understand? I'm..."

"Nashi?" Lucy's voice suddenly sounded in the room and Natsu immediately stopped talking. "Nashi, are you here? Darling, come out!"

The blond mage then noticed her daughter talking to her guest and she froze. Now she would have to face Natsu, tell him the responsibility. And... explain why she didn't say anything. Oh God. But how to do it? How, how, how? Screwed questions!

"Nashi! There you are! I told you not to move the loose bars around, sweetie! Didn't I tell you?" Lucy walke over to her daughter and took her in her arms, greeting the girl with a loving kiss on the cheek. Nashi giggled and hugged her mother back.

"Sorry, Mama!"

"Seriously... What am I going to do with you? You're giving Mama gray hairs! But first, let's get you something to eat, yes? What do you want?"

"Yo-go!"

"Yo-go it is, then!"

Lucy took out a strange, flat object out of a cupboard and unfolded it into a high chair. She strapped Nashi in and reached into the fridge to pull out a cup of yogurt, the dragon fruit flavored one that Natsu wanted to eat yesterday. She opened it, took out a small spoon fro the drawer, and sat down on a stool to feed Nashi. The Dragon Slayer watched this scene and smiled to himself, pretending not to notice the small glances Lucy was shooting towards him now and then. The blond mage herself tried to play it cool and act relaxed, but she knew that the longer she was going to be putting off the inevitable, that is the conversation she had to have with Natsu, she would just be getting more and more nervous. And to top it all off, she knew it was damn immature to be scared to face her... Exactly, what was Natsu to her? Before he left, they had been dating and even engaged, but now... Lucy couldn't say friend, that would be cruel. But it's not boyfriend or fiance, and certainly not husband either, so what? Complication on the highest level.

When Nashi was fed, Lucy changed Nashi and put her down to play in the living room, when she couldn't drag out those actions anymore, she went and sat down beside Natsu, who was watching his small daughter with a really swellin feeling of fatherly pride.

"She's very lively," he finally said, and Lucy nodded.

"I know she is." She folded her hands, not knowing how to answer. She wanted to tell him how Nashi was when she was younger. She could wail and whimper and gurgle through the whole night and keep Lucy awake. Or when she learned to talk (quite early, too!) and wouldn't close her mouth even once, the darling chatterbox...

"But she seems very... developed? I mean, she must be only one. And still, she understands everything, she talks, she walks... Is that normal?"

"I actually took her once to the doctor, to check. He said that it's all connected to the origins of the child's parents. And since you and I... I mean, she was born of two mages. She'll be different like that, it's nothing to worry about."

"Listen, Lucy..."

"No, you listen. I didn't tell you about Nashi because you didn't remember about her. And since you seemed so free-minded and still childlish... I would've felt bad, if I dropped such a burden on you and destroyed your youth. And still, even so... The thing we had before you left... It's gone. Feelings are fragile things, prone to being defeated by time, distance. So..."

"Are you saying I don't love you anymore?"


End file.
